There’s nothing like a dip in the swimming pool during our hot and humid summers. People realize that refreshing water has risks, and that sunburned skin happens before you know it. What they don’t realize is how often actions at a pool cause trauma to your teeth. For example, diving in a shallow area can chip or significantly break front teeth. Diving off a diving board can shove a tooth deeply into the socket of the jaw, should you hit the bottom or sides of the pool – or the head of a fellow swimmer. Either injury could damage the tooth’s nerve (also known as pulp chamber) and warrant a root canal if it doesn’t heal. If the tooth root actually breaks from impact, it needs extraction.
Pool injuries in the mouth may not cause immediate or lasting pain when they happen. While a cut on the lip or bruising may heal quickly, a traumatized tooth may not recover for weeks. Impact with a hard object causes damage to the tooth, the ligaments, soft tissue, and boney socket in which it sits. The body is going to try to fix this and, if not, the nerve of the tooth dies. A toothache starts at the most inopportune time. It now requires a root canal to remove the decomposing nerve and a crown to maintain the integrity of a tooth that no longer receives a blood supply.
Feel free to leverage the phrase, “Sit out and think about what Dr. Agarwal taught you”, when you monitor pool-side behavior. I don’t mind the Pool Cop role.
Contact Winterset Dental immediately if you hit anything near to or within the pool.